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Colorado’s drought is back after only a short reprieve

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Colorado’s reprieve from drought lasted two weeks as warm temperatures and little precipitation have put the southwest corner of the state back to dry conditions.The U.S. Drought Monitor last week reported that 20% of the state is back in drought, just two weeks after its July 6 finding that the state was drought-free for the first time since 2019.A broad swath of southwest Colorado — including Grand Junction, Gunnison, Durango and Montrose — has returned to abnormally dry conditions. The Western Slope received unusual amounts of rain through June, said Norv Larson, a meteorologist with The National Weather Service in Grand Junction.U.S. Drought MonitorTwenty percent of Colorado is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.“It just kind of precipitously ended here at the end of June,” he said.Despite a heavy snowpack and a wet spring in Colorado this year, climatologists say droughts will be more common and more severe. One good year cannot ...

Colorado tow companies can’t make you take out a loan to get your car back, AG says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Towing operators are not allowed to compel vehicle owners to take out loans in order to retrieve their cars after being towed, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office wrote this month.In a July 17 letter to the Public Utilities Commission, Deputy Attorney General Nathan Blake said last year’s Towing Bill of Rights law is clear: “Neither the plain language nor legislative intent of HB22-1314 permits such a practice.”“The intent of this statute was to allow consumers to retrieve their vehicles quickly and avoid (as much as possible) the devastating collateral consequences that can accompany a non-consensual tow,” Blake wrote. “The practice of withholding the reduced release unless a consumer signs a loan agreement violates the letter and purpose of the statute.”The letter comes in response to accusations from lawmakers and consumer advocates that Wyatts Towing, the state’s largest tow company, has been asking vehicle owners to apply...

Broe pays $225M for Seasons apartment complex in Cherry Creek

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

After one of the largest real estate transactions in Cherry Creek history, it’s a new season at The Seasons.The 587-unit The Seasons of Cherry Creek apartment complex at 3498 E. Ellsworth Ave. was purchased Monday by Denver-based Broe Real Estate Group, according to the firm.It’s the first time the 530,575-square-foot complex, whose units are spread across three buildings on 5.2 acres, has changed hands in nearly two decades.The purchase price was $225 million, according to public records. That works out to $383,000 a unit.The acquisition gives Broe another prominent local multifamily holding. The firm, an affiliate of Pat Broe’s Broe Group, also owns the 12-story Skyline 1801 building downtown and developed the twin 32-story Country Club Towers in West Wash Park.The deal also adds to Broe’s holdings specifically in Cherry Creek, where the company and its real estate arm have their headquarters.Broe is halfway through an office development project along Clayton Street. The firm also...

Agile Space Industries in Durango expanding, shooting for the moon

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Far from the aerospace hotbed of Colorado’s Front Range, Agile Space Industries is scaling up its work in Durango on rocket thrusters that will be used to land on the moon.The company, started in 2009, designs, tests and manufactures propulsion systems for spacecraft. One of its products, the A110 thruster, has passed performance tests and met customers’ requirements and Agile expects a second product to do the same later this year.In June, Lockheed Martin Ventures participated in Agile’s $13 million seed-funding round and expects to hold a Series-A investment round later this year to help expand production.The company said it has raised more than $18 million.Agile’s customers include companies that plan to use the systems in spacecraft headed to the moon. Agile CEO Chris Pearson said one of the customers is ispace, a Japanese company whose U.S. office is in Denver.According to its website, ispace will build its Series 2 lunar lander in the U.S. Agile’s...

On the bubble: Five Broncos facing interesting position fights in training camp

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Denver’s veteran players reported to training camp Tuesday, and the first of 12 open practices is Friday.The roster will be sliced and diced and analyzed in all sorts of ways between now and the cutdown from 90 players to 53 on Aug. 29.Today, a look at five Broncos who could find themselves on the roster bubble over the next month.WR Brandon JohnsonDenver’s got a well-established numbers crunch at wide receiver. Four spots are all but secure (Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and Marvin Mims Jr.) barring a trade and there are several players vying for maybe two other spots. Johnson showed as a rookie that he’s got a skill set that aligns with what coach Sean Payton likes. He’s smart and tough and can do a little bit of everything. He could play in the slot or on the perimeter. Payton talks often about finding the “right” 53 players. Johnson will be in the mix, though earning a spot at receiver won’t be easy.DL Jonathan HarrisThe veteran defensive lineman moved up a rung Mon...

Avs Mailbag: Will Avalanche name new captain while Gabriel Landeskog misses another season?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Denver Post sports writer Bennett Durando opens up the Avs Mailbag periodically throughout the season. Pose an Avalanche- or NHL-related question for the Avs Mailbag.With Gabe Landeskog out next season, are the Avalanche going to name a new captain for next season? It seems like a no-brainer to elevate Nathan MacKinnon and give Cale Makar that “A” on his sweater.— Mark, ArvadaI don’t think they’re planning on it. When Landeskog and the team decided in early April that he would miss the 2023 playoffs, general manager Chris MacFarland was steadfast in saying nobody else would assume the title during Landeskog’s absence. The way the Avs see it, keeping the “C” exclusive to Landeskog isn’t a knock on anybody else’s ability to lead; it’s their way of expressing belief in his ability to return to the role eventually. A knee cartilage transplant is a rare surgery for a pro athlete with a grueling rehab process, as I reported...

Clerk fatally shot at Long Beach gas station; gunman sought

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Police are searching for a gunman who shot and killed a clerk at a Long Beach gas station Tuesday night.The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. at the Valero station near the Intersection of Atlantic Avenue and North Atlantic Place.Police investigate a fatal shooting in Long Beach on July 25, 2023. (KeyNews.TV)Investigators told KTLA the victim was shot multiple times before being transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A man who heard the gunshots saw police arriving at the station and realized the victim was a store clerk. “I’ve just known him for probably a few months … just coming down here to buy stuff from the store … So I kind of know him you know but it’s just terrible,” Steven Luzero said. Family members busted in recycling fraud investigation Detectives were seen searching a black Nissan sedan that was left in front of the store but the connection to the incident was unclear. A motive for the shooting is also unknown. Anyone with information w...

Opinion: Californians should not have to pay billions for oil-wells cleanup

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Central California residents once again found themselves blindsided and alarmed last month when a state task force found more than two dozen idle oil wells leaking methane in Kern County — some close to schools. Compounding shock into outrage, many oil companies admitted they have no intention of repairing the leaking wells, more than a dozen of which are gushing methane at explosive levels.It’s the latest stunning example of oil companies’ impunity when it comes to the costs — and dangers — of more than 35,000 idle wells in California.As the state’s oil industry dies out, operators often leave wells unsealed and unattended. Surveys last year found dozens of these idle or orphan wells leaking methane near Bakersfield. These methane leaks revealed how rarely state regulators actually inspect idle wells near homes, schools and churches. Only a tiny fraction of these wells have been tested, and many have gone unchecked for more than a decade.This negligence is dangero...

SF Giants, Oakland A’s react to fans uniting for anti-John Fisher protest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — For the Giants and A’s players, the focus of Tuesday night’s first Bay Bridge series matchup of 2023 was on trying to win.But it was impossible not to notice what the fans of both teams did, with many of the 40,014 coming together for some booming “Sell the team” chants directed at A’s owner John Fisher during the fifth inning of the Giants’ 2-1 win.A’s outfielder Cody Thomas led off the top of the fifth against Giants starter Alex Cobb. While the protest plan was for fans to remain silent throughout Thomas’ at-bat and begin the chants once he was done, the chants picked up after the first pitch of the fifth inning.In fact, much like during last month’s “reverse boycott” in Oakland, Giants starting pitcher Alex Cobb couldn’t hear his PitchCom — but unlike A’s pitcher Hogan Harris, who stopped the game to check his, Cobb kept pitching.“I had no idea what was going on. It just got loud,” Cobb said. “I was trying to focus on the PitchCom. I couldn’t hear the...

Man pleads not guilty to attempted murder of Vallejo police officer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

A suspect accused of attempting to murder a Vallejo police officer who shot him during a burglary last month pleaded not guilty to all counts Tuesday.Judge Jon Rolefson ordered 29-year-old Jamazea Kittell to return to court Sept. 13 for a hearing prior to his preliminary examination, according to court documents. The preliminary examination – the hearing at which the state will attempt to prove that there is probable cause to believe Kittell committed his alleged crimes – is scheduled to begin Sept. 20.Assistant Public Defender Nick Filloy represented Kittell at his 9 a.m. arraignment at the Solano Justice Building in Vallejo. Assistant District Attorney Paul Sequeira represented the prosecution.Kittell remains held without bail in the Justice Center Detention Facility in Fairfield.Kittell was arrested June 27 following reports of a break-in at a Vallejo gas station. Footage of the incident released by the Vallejo Police Department shows Officer Brad Kim scrambling out of his patrol...